Curriculum

Students at Dixons Kings Academy expand their knowledge in all areas. They learn the latest and greatest powerful knowledge to reach their goals and have educational justice.

• Staff understand what powerful knowledge is, and can identify it in their subject (not just exam rubric)
• All subjects have a retrieval based curriculum which is carefully planned and carried out in a considered manner
• We build a thirst for learning and a love of subjects at KS3 by using varied topics and an innovative curriculum – but this also provides a good grounding for KS4
• Our knowledge organisers are consistent and accessible across school
• Each subject area has a clear overview of their planning and rationale, through the use of a curriculum intent document and a curriculum overview
• Each faculty has a link to university research (in some aspect) so that they can be sure they are teaching the most useful and up to date knowledge to our students

As a Dixons academy, our curriculum is aligned to a common set of Trust-wide principles which are underpinned by our mission to challenge educational and social disadvantage in the North. We believe all students are entitled to an ambitious, knowledge-rich curriculum which will open doors and maximise life chances.

At Dixons Kings Academy, we are a safe and secure environment where students can learn and staff can teach. We deliver an ambitious, knowledge-rich curriculum so that our students can go on to lead happy and successful lives and make positive contributions to their communities. Our academic curriculum takes guidance from Michael Young’s work on powerful knowledge and is shaped around instilling this in each subject area. As such, in each discipline, students are prepared for national assessments (and importantly) acquire knowledge from all cultural domains that builds wider cultural capital.

Our curriculum is underpinned by our wider enrichment, 35-to-thrive and Cultural Studies programmes. Students have the opportunity to access a wide variety of hobbies and other interests in a supportive and developmental environment through enrichment. These range from cooking or drama, to robot building, sign language or first aid (to name but a few). The 35-to-thrive programme is designed to equip our students with the life skills and experiences that they will need to be successful at university and in the world of work. These are essential skills that we have recognised they will need, and the students work towards completing 7 of these each year that they are with us at Dixons Kings Academy. Finally, our Cultural Studies lessons address issues in the local community and in the wider world that may affect our students. Students experience these sessions in lecture style delivery in extended line up once a week, and then this is followed by a seminar classroom session the next day to offer chance for debate and discussion.

Our curriculum is informed by the latest evidential research from cognitive science about memory, forgetting and practice in order to help students remember more, and apply, the best of what has been thought and said. By employing our curriculum as progression model, we make knowledge stick so that it can be flexibly applied in a variety of different contexts and situations.

At Dixons Kings Academy, we teach our students powerful knowledge so that they can understand and interpret the world and to think in new and unexpected ways. With the democratisation of knowledge, our students will be incredibly successful in high stakes examinations and will go on to use this understanding to achieve great things in the world.

Our Relationships, Sex and Health Education policy is shown below alongside the long term plans of the content covered in each year group, this has been developed in consultation with parents.

RE is an integral part of our curriculum at DKA, however we do recognise that parents have the right to withdraw their child from these lessons. If you wish to do so then this must be made in writing to the Principal. If you wish to find out more about our curriculum, please email us.

Our curriculum overview and principles are available to read in full below.